Quote :

"Jill Stein hasn't convinced me she's worth my vote either. She and Clinton both still have a chance to do so"

So are we to assume you're no longer giving Johnson the chance to earn your vote?

[Edited on July 6, 2016 at 10:35 PM. Reason : cause that would make sense [no sarcasm]]

7/6/2016 10:34:38 PM

Johnson has a very different platform than Stein, and his platform is opposite of so many liberal positions. No one should be "cross shopping" Johnson and Stein, they are not similar

7/7/2016 6:37:51 AM

they are only similar in that they are not Clinton/Trump and, therefore, will get zero.5% media attention

7/7/2016 7:19:07 PM

Exiled is such a coward. Kinda reminds me of hillary. Frontrunning political coward.

7/7/2016 8:29:47 PM

Quote :

"So are we to assume you're no longer giving Johnson the chance to earn your vote?"

Quote :

"No one should be "cross shopping" Johnson and Stein"

No one running on a Republican or Libertarian platform will be able to sway me unless their ideologies drastically change. I agree with most of the Democratic platform, but not the chosen candidate.

7/7/2016 11:50:33 PM

It was like 2 weeks ago you said he had the chance to earn your vote, but glad to hear you've changed that stance.

7/7/2016 11:59:54 PM

^I was never fully open to him, but I'd prefer him to Trump. There's no reason why I would be swayed by him when there is still one truly liberal candidate in the mix. But being liberal isn't enough to earn my vote either, I don't know enough about Stein to know what kind of leader she would be.

The door to my vote is wide open for Stein, half open for Hillary, cracked for Johnson, and double bolted for Trump.

[Edited on July 8, 2016 at 1:30 PM. Reason : -]

7/8/2016 1:28:23 PM

Is Stein going to be on enough ballots to even have the possibility of winning?

7/8/2016 2:20:49 PM

Greens are not ready for the executive office unless it's a cabinet position. They need to focus on building a stronger base and work up. Look at the party leadership listed on their website. Not exactly confidence inspiring.

There are enough reasons for a progressive to vote for Johnson, IMO. Here's a copy paste from Reddit:

"The general idea of progressives and libertarians coming together is not a new one. Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich worked together on a number of issues like ending the drone war and both former congressmen considered each other as running mates during their presidential campaigns in 2008.

Greens and Libertarians have similar overlap and agree on a variety of issues. The foundational philosophy and goals are different, but practical outcomes are very similar. A joint ticket may work on some very key issues which will provide a significant contrast with both Democrats and Republicans.

These include:

1. A non-interventionist foreign policy and the closure of all overseas military installations

2. Termination of warrantless surveillance programs and repeal of the USA Patriot Act

3. Closure of black sites and termination of detention programs in breach of the fifth amendment

4. Transferring detainees to military tribunals or the civilian judicial system and releasing those cleared for release

5. Reducing the DoD budget and cancellation of defense projects deemed over budget and behind schedule

6. Withdrawal from the WTO, GATT, NAFTA, TPP, TTIP, TISA, PNTR with China, and other free trade agreements

7. Auditing the Federal Reserve and abolishment of fractional reserve lending

8. Elimination of financial subsidies to oil companies and large financial institutions

9. Abolishing capital punishment, enhanced interrogation, and torture

10. Decriminalization of drugs and abolishing mandatory minimum sentencing

11. Increasing accountability and citizen oversight of police conduct

12. Termination of all surplus military equipment transfer programs to local law enforcement agencies

13. Ending the prosecution of all whistleblowers and investigative journalists

14. Opening presidential debates to candidates with a mathematical possibility to attain 270 electoral votes

15. Ending gerrymandering and unfair drawing of congressional districts"

7/8/2016 2:29:59 PM

Quote :

"Greens are not ready for the executive office"

I agree the party does not have enough high-level leadership to run a government. But I do believe that there are probably members of the party who could hold the office and fill roles from other parties to create a more unified political process. Democrats and Republicans won't work with each other, so let's see if they'll work with someone who isn't from the other group.

7/9/2016 3:30:54 PM

Quote :

" Democrats and Republicans won't work with each other"

hah.. thats just what they want you to think

7/9/2016 3:44:13 PM

so when Bernie endorses the most corrupt politician to ever run for president its proof that he is a sell out and doesnt actually believe his own platform right

7/11/2016 8:10:45 AM

It will mean he recognizes that nothing is more dangerous to our country right now than the GOP being in a position to "govern."

7/11/2016 8:15:22 AM

^This, and, it means he was promised that his views would be a major point of the party platform.

7/11/2016 1:37:21 PM

beatsunc tries so hard, and

7/11/2016 1:39:30 PM

i mean seriously. its hard to think of a better representative than hillary for whats wrong with the system he rails against

7/11/2016 1:53:57 PM

How about Mitch McConnell?

7/11/2016 2:21:45 PM

^ Naw that's a Republican. beatsunc likes them.

7/12/2016 8:38:19 AM

^false. i dislike republican leadership also, just not as much as the most corrupt person to ever run for president hillary

7/12/2016 8:40:21 AM

Talk some shit about Mitch then.

7/12/2016 8:43:29 AM

hah, sure i'll google some dirt about him you

Quote :

"Mitch McConnell is the shittiest Senator in the history of Washington. And there are numbers to back that up. Since he became the Republican leader in the Senate, McConnell has filed more than a quarter of all cloture motions ever filed as long as the Senate has existed. To put that in perspective, this means McConnell, in just his most recent term, is responsible for over 25 percent of all the Senate filibusters since 1787. McConnell is literally a cancerous tumor on the Senate, collecting a six-figure paycheck while depleting all hope of progress as long as he’s in office. On the flip side, McConnell is quite productive if you’re willing to write him a fat check. One week after Amgen, a pharmaceutical multinational, hosted a fundraiser for McConnell in December of 2012, one of their lobbyists, who was in charge of monitoring the “fiscal cliff” negotiations, wrote a $3,000 check to McConnell’s campaign. By the time the negotiations were finished, McConnell had secured a $500 million Christmas present for Amgen that came directly out of Medicare. But even that wasn’t McConnell’s foulest moment of corruption. This past July, McConnell took time out of his busy day to have a breakfast date with Richard Anderson, the CEO of Delta Airlines, in the exclusive Senate dining room. Just a day after the breakfast, Anderson and his wife wrote over $10,000 worth of checks to McConnell’s campaign. McConnell’s spokespeople of course denied the allegations that McConnell solicited the donations in the Senate dining room, which would be a felony. Nevertheless, the donations to McConnell’s campaign could be easily interpreted as a quid pro quo in a relationship where McConnell will likely return the favor by continuing to block closing unfair corporate tax loopholes that cost U.S. taxpayers billions each year. Delta Airlines has used an accounting loophole called “deferral,” which allows them to carry their losses forward for several years. This means that despite making billions in profit, Delta Airlines pays $0 in taxes on those profits, and is likely to continue dodging all U.S. income taxes for several more years, at least. If McConnell keeps his job after November, the tax dodging will continue, as will the checks Delta’s CEO writes to McConnell’s campaign. Mitch McConnell’s position as a politician who puts out depending on how much you’re willing to put in is a far cry from what he used to stand for. Ironically, McConnell used to be a proponent of full disclosure when it came to campaign donations several decades ago. “What we ought to do is eliminate the political action committee contributions, because those are the ones that raise the specter of undue influence. And those can be gone tomorrow. We can pass a bill tomorrow to take care of that problem,” McConnell was quoted saying in 1987. "We Republicans have put together a responsible and Constitutional campaign reform agenda. It would restrict the power of special interest PACS, stop the flow of all soft money, keep wealthy individuals from buying public office," McConnell said in 1988. Now, McConnell is the personification of the insidious culture that exists among Washington politicians and their big donors. Thanks to Lauren Windsor’s surreptitiously-recorded audio of McConnell’s address at a Koch Brothers-funded gathering of GOP politicians and corporate oligarchs this past summer, the Senate minority leader’s deference to big money is well-documented. McConnell, who has received over $41,000 from Koch Industries in this campaign cycle, shamelessly genuflected to the oil barons in front of the entire audience, acknowledging their role in keeping the Republican Party well-funded. “I want to start by thanking you, Charles and David [Koch], for the important work you’re doing,” McConnell said. “I don’t know where we’d be without you.” At the summit, McConnell assured benefactors of his continued servility, promising not to spend any time on “gosh-darn” minimum wage increases, eases in student loan debt, or extensions of the safety net for the long-term unemployed. Instead, McConnell vowed in his speech to defund the Environmental Protection Agency, eliminate the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and repeal the Affordable Care Act – all of which are greatly pleasing to billionaires who profit from polluting air and water, jacking up interest rates on millions of unwitting college students and credit card holders, and denying health insurance to sick and injured people who depend on it. Mitch McConnell can be counted on to make the rich richer, as well as himself, through his votes. McConnell increased his own personal wealth from $3.4 million in 2004 to $27.2 million in 2010. Oddly enough, that was a time when most Americans were seeing their wealth dissipate during the greatest recession in modern history. The Washington Post reported that most of McConnell’s gains during that time were due to stock trades, though he’s also voted to increase his own Congressional salary six times. Interestingly enough, The New York Times reported that the investment portfolios of U.S. senators consistently outperform the rest of the market by a full 10 percentage points, seeing even more growth than hedge fund managers. Given that most Americans were caught completely off guard by the crash resulting from the banks’ misleading investors on subprime loans, it’s curious that politicians like McConnell reaped such a massive windfall while everyone else saw their life savings get flushed away. It’s almost like he knew what would happen ahead of time. Even ignoring all allegations of corruption and insider trading, McConnell is still a paragon of sleaziness. CREW (Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington) has named McConnell to their most corrupt politicians list four times now, most recently over what smells like Congressional aides doing campaign work on taxpayer time. Mother Jones obtained secret recordings of a McConnell campaign strategy meeting in which the senator lauded opposition research on his potential 2014 challengers obtained by his legislative assistants. Had this research been done using McConnell’s office resources, during the work week, it would certainly merit, at the very least, an ethics investigation if not an indictment."

7/12/2016 8:50:28 AM

lol googling someone else talking shit and pasting it. classic schmosbeatsunc

7/12/2016 9:09:36 AM

Mike Pence as VP? What a joke. This is going to be the most alienating ticket in GOP history.

7/15/2016 11:11:51 AM

Both VP candidates are too much like the top of the ticket, neither choice added anything and are clearly just attempts to lock in swing states.

7/23/2016 5:57:36 PM

VP candidates do very little to help win their home state historically

7/23/2016 6:36:46 PM

Maybe, but every little bit helps in a swing state like VA. Even a little impact there would be worth more than whatever, say, Warren could do in MA.

7/23/2016 7:09:32 PM

Kaine is a well-liked guy (even among Republicans), and having seem him in VA in 2008, he can campaign and rally volunteers quite well.

7/23/2016 8:39:04 PM

Quote :

"Both VP candidates are too much like the top of the ticket,"

other than both being older white dudes, how in the hell are Trump and Pence alike?

7/23/2016 10:23:59 PM

^They play the hate game. Vote for me, because I'm against all the kinds of people you hate (immigrants, homosexuals, etc)

7/24/2016 9:23:51 PM

that's basically the platform for the Republican Party

the two of them are almost nothing alike

7/25/2016 12:53:44 AM

Trump +5 in CNN/ORC poll.

Expected a trend to Trump but wow. Biggest post-convention bump since 2000. Seems people rallied to Melania and Trumps defense after plagiarism accusations and Cruz.

Not that it's a secret but when Americans get scared they want an authoritarian nanny state (see post-9/11)

7/25/2016 7:58:17 AM

Quote :

"To the Democratic National Committee elites, keeping average Americans away from their convention is a good idea, while protecting the southern border from intruding terrorists, rapists and murderers is a bad one. The DNC has erected a four-mile fence around its convention site at Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center. "

7/25/2016 9:27:53 AM

Obviously a false equivalency but also way too cautious. Peaceful protest around the area should be allowed at all reasonable costs.

7/25/2016 9:49:42 AM

http://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2016-election-forecast/#now

I know Trump could be seeing a post convention bump but holy shit

7/25/2016 9:54:08 AM

Crazy. I guess it's some residuals from the email thing and Comey too.

I figured his batshit insane Friday morning pressed would have dampened some but it appears not. If Clinton doesn't go back up after her convention bounce she is in deep, deep trouble.

7/25/2016 10:17:12 AM

For all the talk of the Republican Party going down the drain this email leak is showing the Democrat Party isn't exactly doing too great either. It will be really interesting to see if a third party can emerge as a legit contender in the coming years.

7/25/2016 10:20:57 AM

The Now-Cast is bizarre. I know it's useless but like Ohio for instance... A poll from June 22-28 has Clinton +3. But then they adjust it to Trump +5. I guess it's based on the current national polling?

7/25/2016 10:26:41 AM

Bernie was the more electable candidate who had double digit leads over Trump in almost every poll. The reason? He had independents on board. That is proving to be much more difficult for Hillary to do.

7/25/2016 10:33:58 AM

Wow, that CNN poll is interesting. Trump is +37 among non-college educated whites. But -3 among college educated whites.

That has to be as big a discrepancy between education level for same ethnicity/race as I've ever seen.

[Edited on July 25, 2016 at 10:41 AM. Reason : But he loves the poorly educated. Just ask him.]

7/25/2016 10:40:36 AM

Philly protestor watch? Are there more people than food trucks yet?

7/25/2016 11:51:24 AM

Shrike do you work for the Democrats?

7/25/2016 12:00:56 PM

I am DWS.

7/25/2016 12:01:49 PM

man its racist how you have to show an ID to get into the DNC convention

[Edited on July 25, 2016 at 5:37 PM. Reason : a]

7/25/2016 5:36:48 PM

Green party was going to have a convention outside of the convention. that is the reason for the fence.

7/25/2016 5:44:00 PM

you down with TPP?

7/25/2016 7:36:28 PM

Damn! Booker just gave an Obama 2004 esque speech

7/25/2016 9:56:51 PM

Uhh, no.

He started off pretty weak, was yelling way too much at the start. Got into a nice groove and delivered a really good message. Inexplicably he then went about 4 or 5 minutes too long parroting a bunch of the best lines from other speeches.

It was a nice speech, but it wasn't anywhere near Obama in 04.

7/25/2016 10:02:52 PM

Obama gave an Obama like 2004 speech.

7/25/2016 10:31:58 PM

I had forgotten how much I hate Democrats, too.

7/25/2016 10:37:57 PM

Yup. FLOTUS and the little ginger kennedy have been the best speakers on stage so far.

Warren is a god damned train wreck. I've never seen anyone get less applause hitting every populist talkng point. She just got a polite golf clap while talking about a living wage.

7/25/2016 10:42:21 PM